Child Poverty and hopelessness in the U.S - Essay Example

Child Poverty and homelessness in the U.S. The video clip about the poverty in the United s of America and the way itinfluences the children was extremely moving for me. I did not know that there are roughly sixteen millions of homeless children which is more than population of some countries in the world. In addition to that, it was complete shock for me to learn about the conditions that they are living in: I can not imagine a happy family living in a van for a considerable period of time. I particularly like one of the expressions that the present used closer to the end of the video: these homeless children were able to see the America that they though did not exist.

Speaking of the effect that poverty has on children, I might point out that it may place significant limits on their personal development. Indeed, while their peers might be preoccupied with typical problems for their age, the children who are living in poverty have to think about more essential issues, like making a contribution towards the family budget which ultimately does not allow them to experience their childhood to its fullest. In other words, it would not be an exaggeration to suggest that poverty takes away one of the happiest years of their lives.

If one takes a close look at the problem in question from the point of view of social conflict theory, one will be able to point out that these children represent the exploited class of people who are in desperate need of a job and will do anything in order to gain at least some improvement in their lives, such as moving from a motel to a permanent house. What is more important is that parents of the majority of children have jobs the supply for which is excessive, but the demand, especially in the current conditions is quite low.

Finally, it must be noted that the destructive effect that poverty has on the children may be explained by the fact that they are self reliant and largely depend on their parents which means that they suffer from harsh conditions of life not because their were not able to locate or secure a job, but because their parents failed to do so. What is even worse is that they are not able to make any significant improvement in the situation since they are too young to work and earn money.